What are berries’ thoughts on the name [name_f]Araluen[/name_f]? (air-a-lu-en or ar-a-lu-en). I spotted it tonight on a name site, now I don’t remember where. According to NB it is an Aboriginal Australian name meaning “water lily”. It comes with a host of nn options like [name_u]Ara[/name_u], [name_u]Ari[/name_u], [name_f]Lu[/name_f], [name_f]Lulu[/name_f], [name_u]Ren[/name_u] but is it too out there? What feel does it give you?
I’ve seen it around here as well, but it still feels a little made up to me. I like the sound though.
It feels a little whimsical. Airy. If you told me it was a moon goddess from an epic fantasy series I would be unsurprised.
I would say it works next to [name_m]Gulliver[/name_m], Edelweiss and [name_m]Huckleberry[/name_m]. Not with [name_f]Esther[/name_f] or [name_u]Cedar[/name_u].
@dearest : Yes, that’s what I’m struggling with - if it feels too made up/not a legitimate name. I like solid names with a slight whimsical feel… it might be borderline. It might grow on me more or I might end up hating it. I can’t decide!
I just keep coming back to the nickname possibilities. I love them ALL! Airy is a great idea for a nickname I adore that. I just thought [name_f]Lily[/name_f] could be a nickname too, because it means water lily. And the full name sounds pretty also. But I still don’t know!
I agree that it feels somewhat invented — it’s pretty, but also a mouthful. It almost feels like a name reverse-engineered for maximum nickname potential, or what you’d get if four friends tried to combine their names into one. I like the -luen ending, but the four syllables feels long. It reminds me of [name_f]Avalon[/name_f] and [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] in the way it comes across.
I’d never use it, but I do like it!
It made me think of the color blue – cerulean. It’s hard for me to pronounce correctly because of the color association. I keep wanting to skip over a syllable and say it more like cerulean.
I’m coming back to this name today… Any more opinions?
I like the way it sounds, but I would be afraid of fighting a name battle the rest of her life. [name_m]Constant[/name_m] misspellings and mispronouncing.
I normally love multiple syllable flowy girl’s names, but I just cant get on board with this one. I have a really hard time trying to say it in my head, let alone actually saying it out loud.
It definitely isn’t a made up name. It probably feels invented because you haven’t heard it before, but it is a legitimate word (and name). It’s probably because Aboriginal Australian languages and cultures aren’t very commonly discussed internationally. I pronounce it [name_m]ah[/name_m]-ra-LOU-en and I’ve only ever heard it pronounced that way.
There are also the [name_f]Araluen[/name_f] Botanic Gardens and there’s a small town called [name_f]Araluen[/name_f] in [name_m]New[/name_m] South [name_m]Wales[/name_m]. You can google both of them.